Shruthi Manjunath

6/26/14
Graduate Students Perception of Feedback
Feedback has been shown to be crucial to student learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie
& Jaeger, 1998). According to Ramsden (2003), being able to write effective comments on
student assignments is one of the main characteristics of quality teaching. Many studies have
further shown that students value and understand the importance of feedback (Hyland 2000;
Weaver, 2006). Yet despite all this research on the significance of feedback, many students can
lack satisfaction with the feedback they receive.
Students can be dissatisfied with the feedback given. Hartley and Chesworth (2000)
showed that only 10 % of psychology students surveyed felt that they had received helpful
feedback. McCune and Hounsell (2005) surveyed biology students and found that the area
relating to the adequacy of feedback, received the lowest scores. In fact, in follow-up interviews,
students expressed anxiety and dissatisfaction with feedback given.
There can be several reasons for this dissatisfaction. Of the few studies that have
examined student perceptions of feedback, research shows that students can have several main
problems with feedback. One major issue involves negative feedback. Students can perceive the
feedback they receive as possibly having a detrimental affect on their confidence (James, 2000).
For instance, Ferguson (2011) explored what students felt effective; quality feedback was by
distributing a survey to undergraduate and graduate students. One of his findings suggested that
students felt the role of feedback was to increase confidence and provide encouragement. When
students received too many negative comments, they stated that it made them feel like giving up.
Some students even claimed that they needed positive comments. Negative feedback affected
these students confidence. Weaver (2006) found similar results when she examined student
perceptions of feedback. Using a multi-method approach of quantitative and qualitative data
collection and analysis, higher education students were surveyed. One of the key results showed
that students felt that the feedback they received focused too much on their weaknesses. They
wanted a balance of positive and negative comments, stating that too many negative comments
were demoralizing. Thus, negative feedback was detrimentally impacting their confidence.
Another major issue that students can have with feedback given is lack of clarity or
difficulty in understanding the feedback received. For example, Chanock (2000) distributed a
survey to understand how students interpret comments that they received from their tutors. She
found that many students did not interpret feedback received in the way the tutors intended.

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
Many students had difficulty understanding the comments given. Glover and Brown (2006) also
showed that students find feedback to be difficult to understand. Data was collected through
questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews of higher education students. One of the main
findings was that students did not understand feedback comments, as well as, the assessment
criteria that the feedback comments were based on.
Feedback lacking specificity is something students significantly struggle with also. For
instance, Higgins, Hartley, and Skelton (2001) wrote an article exploring the meaning and
influence of assessment feedback for higher education students. They state that students
sometimes do not receive specific enough feedback and so cannot improve. Poulos and Mahony
(2008) studied student perceptions on what makes feedback effective and found similar results.
They conducted focus groups with undergraduate students. They found that students preferred
specific rather than general feedback. Weaver (2006), in her study that used both quantitative
and qualitative techniques, found that higher education students felt that one way feedback can
be unhelpful is by being too general and not having enough detail. Thus, these findings also
suggest that students have a problem with feedback that is not specific.
One final concern that students find to be major involves the timeliness of feedback. For
example, Ferguson (2011) distributed surveys to undergraduate and graduate students to study
effective feedback. He found that most students wanted feedback in a timely manner, giving a
period of two to three weeks with two weeks being preferred. Furthermore, Hartley and
Chesworth (2000) examined higher education students views on feedback. They found that
59 % of participants stated that feedback was received too late and so no longer useful. Also,
according to Yorke and Longden (2006), who surveyed over 6000 higher education students, it
was found that in one third of subject areas students felt that feedback was not timely enough.
Therefore, these findings highlight the struggles students have with untimely feedback.
Hence, the literature shows that some of the main issues students have with feedback is
lack of specificity (Weaver, 2006), lack of timeliness (Hartley & Chesworth, 2000), lack of
clarity (Chanock, 2000), and negativity of feedback (Ferguson, 2011). Therefore, the purpose of
the current study was to see whether these same issues were a concern for graduate students who
attend the Pennsylvania State University. It was hypothesized that these four areas would be a
concern for students. Thus, questions were asked about the frequency of these issues. Also,

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
additional questions were included that asked students to explain these issues in more depth, in
order to get a deeper understanding of these problems.
Method
Participants
Convenience sampling was used. A total of 14 students were eligible to participate.
Only eight of these students chose to be part of the study, making a total response rate of 50 %.
Participants were eight graduate students who were all enrolled in a higher education course at
the Pennsylvania State University, a large public university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the
United States. The demographic characteristics of the sample are presented in Table 1.
Table 1
Demographic Composition of Sample
Age

20s

50

30s

25

40s

12.5

50s

12.5

Male

50

Female

50

Caucasian

75

Hispanic

12.5

Asian

12.5

Higher Education

50

Educational Psychology

12.5

Residence Life

12.5

Biochemistry

12.5

Counselor Education

12.5

Gender

Race

Program

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
Measure
One measure was used in this study that assessed how graduate students felt about the
feedback received and was labeled Academic Feedback Survey. This survey is a 12-item
questionnaire that contains demographic questions as well as questions assessing feedback.
Demographic questions were asked about gender, ethnicity, age, and the academic program one
was in. Questions about feedback assessed negativity, clarity, specificity, and timeliness of
feedback. Four of these items were rated on a 5-point Likert response scale, ranging from never
(1) to always (5). These items were Within your graduate career, how often has feedback
lacked specificity, Within your graduate career, how often has feedback lacked clarity,
Within your graduate career, how often has feedback been negative, and Within your
graduate career, how often has feedback lacked timeliness. Higher scores for these questions
indicated greater frequency of the behavior. The remaining four items were open-ended
questions. These items were Please explain what these instances or instance of unspecific
feedback looked like, Please explain what these instances or instance of unclear feedback
looked like, Please explain what these instances or instance of negative feedback looked like,
and Please explain what these instances or instance of untimely feedback looked like.
Procedure
The survey was administered to graduate students who were all taking a higher education
course. The survey was created online through google docs. The researcher sent an invitation to
participate via e-mail. The e-mail contained a link to the survey. When students accessed the
survey, they completed demographic questions as well as questions pertaining to their
perceptions of feedback. No identifying information was requested, such as names, making the
entire process anonymous.
Results and Discussion
Quantitative results
First, participants were asked to indicate how often the feedback they received, within
their graduate career, has lacked specificity. They rated their response on a 5-point Likert
response scale, ranging from never (1) to always (5). Table 2 shows the distribution of
participants responses. Most participants either stated that they rarely (50 %) or sometimes
(37.5 %) received feedback that lacked specificity, with more participants responding with a
rarely. Therefore, this area was not a substantial concern.

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
Table 2
Feedback Lacking Specificity
n

Never

Rarely

50

Sometimes

37.5

Often

12.5

Always

Second, participants were asked to rate, within their graduate career, how often the
feedback they received lacked clarity. They rated their response on a 5-point Likert response
scale, ranging from never (1) to always (5). Table 3 presents the participants responses. Most
participants gave a rating of sometimes (62.5 %), indicating that this area was an area of concern.
Table 3
Feedback Lacking Clarity
n

Never

Rarely

25

Sometimes

62.5

Often

12.5

Always

Third, students using a 5-point Likert response scale ranging from never (1) to always
(5), were asked to rate how often within their graduate career they receive negative feedback.
Table 4 indicates the distribution of the participants responses. Most students gave a rating of
sometimes (50 %). Thus, this area was an area of concern.

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
Table 4
Negative Feedback
n

Never

25

Rarely

25

Sometimes

50

Often

Always

Last, students indicated how often, within their graduate career, the feedback received
lacked timeliness. They rated their response on a 5-point Likert response scale, ranging from
never (1) to always (5). Table 5 presents the ratings given by participants. Most participants
gave a rating of often (62.5 %) showing that this area was an area of concern.
Table 5
Feedback Lacking Timeliness
n

Never

12.5

Rarely

Sometimes

25

Often

62.5

Always

Therefore, these results somewhat corresponded with literature that concentrated on

student perceptions of feedback. In line with the literature, students did report that feedback
lacking clarity, negative feedback, and feedback lacking timeliness are all areas of concern.
However, feedback lacking specificity, was not an area of concern, which did not support the
literature. Perhaps these results are because professors give more specific feedback to graduate
students, as compared to undergraduate students, due to the greater importance placed on
learning the material. Furthermore, my hypothesis that all four of these areas would be an area
of concern was not supported due to these results.

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
Qualitative results
Open-ended questions were also asked regarding the negativity, clarity, specificity, and
timeliness of feedback. These additional questions were included to explore student perceptions
of feedback in more depth. Answers were analyzed by looking for the most common responses
or themes.
First, in regards to being asked to explain what an instance or instances of unspecific
feedback looked like, two major patterns emerged. Most students either did or did not have
experience with unspecific feedback. Students that did not have experience with unspecific
feedback indicated that the feedback that they have received has usually been direct, as
emphasized by the comments below.
For the most part, the feedback that I have received has been pretty specific.
Usually in my field feedback is very direct as to what the issue is.
Most students that had experience with unspecific feedback were mainly concerned due to
receiving not enough detail, as they would be given an overall score of some kind or just a few
comments. Responses below highlight these concerns.
I have gotten assignments and papers back that just had a letter grade or number written
on the top.
One paper was given back to me with a few sentences written - it basically said that the
professor liked the connection I made, but stopped there.
Another example, would be sending me my grade by email without any comments.
Second, in relation to explaining an instance or instances of feedback that lacked clarity,
most participants indicated that the feedback given was difficult to understand. This difficulty
sometimes hindered their ability to improve. Some of the most common responses are below.
I think some comments made by professors on my papers sometimes were vague.
Sometimes I get feedback on my assignments that is not clear. I am not sure what the
professor is trying to tell me to improve it. This usually happens when the professor does
not adequately reference the assignment guidelines or expectation of the target concept.
The professor didn't really indicate areas for improvement and only wrote a few
sentences on a 5 page paper.
Sometimes they do not directly state what you did wrong but rather just put the correct
answer, it is up to you to figure out where you went wrong.

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
Third, in regards to instances or an instance of negative feedback, most students indicated
that they did not have much experience with negative feedback. Many responded that they
received constructive or critical feedback. Some comments are presented below to highlight this
pattern.
I have certainly been correctednever felt attacked or that the feedback was too
negative. I appreciate critical feedback.
Most of the feedback that I have received has been constructive and beneficial to the
work.
It's never negative. It's just been constructive to help me improve in whatever it was I was
doing incorrectly.
Finally, in relation to an instance or instances that feedback has been untimely, many
students had this experience. Most students reported that they felt that feedback was given too
late. They had already turned in the next assignment by the time feedback was given, preventing
them from being able to use the feedback. Some common answers given are below.
In one of my classes, the professor returned papers back after the next paper was due so
there was no chance of correcting similar mistakes on the next paper.
It takes a few weeks to get feedback and then I have already moved on to the next thing.
Sometimes it limits the amount that I pay attention to the feedback.
It seems that most of the feedback that I have gotten has taken extremely long to get
back. Feedback is important to help you prepare the next paper but if you don't get the
feedback in enough time to make changes for the next paper, the feedback becomes
pointless.
As explained above, assignments were not returned in time before more assignments
were due; thus, the feedback was not effective.
Thus, these responses show some interesting findings. In regards to feedback lacking
specificity, those who did have issues in this area emphasized that feedback was not detailed
enough. In regards to feedback lacking clarity, most students interpreted lacking clarity as
difficult to understand, which would sometimes impede their ability to improve. In relation to
negative feedback, most students indicated they did not have much experience with negative
feedback. These findings were opposite of the quantitative findings that indicated that most
students sometimes received negative feedback. Perhaps due to the sensitive nature of the

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
subject matter, participants were not comfortable enough sharing an instance or instances of
negative feedback. Last, in regards to untimely feedback, most participants interpreted untimely
feedback as late feedback that was no longer useful. Hence, participants indicated how
important it was for feedback to be detailed, clear and indicating how to improve, and given back
in time to be useful.
Limitations
All findings need to be taken with extreme caution due to a number of limitations. First
the sample size was small with a total of eight participants. Second, the use of convenience
sampling ensured the sample did not accurately represent the population of interest, which were
graduate students at the Pennsylvania State University. Third, the measure used was a self-report
measure, which can lack reliability. Fourth, the survey was distributed online. Thus, there was
no way to monitor students to ensure that they completed the survey accurately. Hence, these
results lack generalizability.
Implications
Due to the number of limitations of the study, results lack generalizability. Thus, future
research should replicate this study using random sampling, a greater number of participants, and
using a pen and paper version of the survey. By focusing on this type of research, findings from
this study can be verified.

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14
References
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in education, 5,
7-74.
Chanock, K. (2000). Comments on essays: Do students understand what tutors write? Teaching
in Higher Education, 5, 95-105.
Ferguson, P. (2011). Student perceptions of quality feedback in teacher education. Assessment &
Evaluation in Higher Education, 36(1), 51-62.
Glover, C. & Brown, E. (2006). Written feedback for students: Too much, too detailed or too
incomprehensible to be effective? Bioscience Education e-Journal, 7. Retrieved from
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/subjects/bioscience/bioscience-education7-3.pdf
Hartley, J., & Chesworth, K. (2000). Qualitative and quantitative methods in research on essay
writing: No one way. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 24(1), 15-24.
Hattie, J., & Jaeger, R. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning: A deductive approach.
Assessment in Education, 5, 111-122.
Higgins, R., Hartley, P., & Skelton, A. (2001). Getting the message across: The problem of
communicating assessment feedback. Teaching in Higher Education, 6(2), 269-274.
Hyland, P. (2000). Learning from feedback in assessment. In P. Hyland & A. Booth (Eds.), The
practice of university history teaching (pp. 233-247). Manchester: Manchester University
Press.
James, D. (2000). Making the graduate: Perspectives on student experience of assessment in
higher education. In A. Filer (Ed.), Assessment: social practice and social product.
London and New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
McCune, V., & Hounsell, D. (2005). The development of students ways of thinking and
practising in three final-year biology courses. Higher Education, 49(3), 255-289.
Poulos, A., & Mahony, M. J. (2008). Effectiveness of feedback: The students perspective.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(2), 143-154.
Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education (2nd ed.). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Weaver, M. R. (2006). Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors written
responses. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(3), 379-394.
Yorke, M., & Longden, B. (2006). The vital first year. Academy Exchange, 4, 16-17.

Shruthi Manjunath
6/26/14